


friday (i’m in love)

by lumensage



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Crushes, M/M, Pining, Punk Band Au, theyre both lovestruck idiots but ryuji doesnt know that yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 02:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17993543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumensage/pseuds/lumensage
Summary: Akira teaches Ryuji how to play guitar.





	friday (i’m in love)

Ryuji instantly regretted putting himself in this predicament.

 

Both he and Akira were at Ryuji’s place, Akira making the suggestion that they should practice. Ryuji’s mother wasn’t home, which was good - he didn’t want to bother her by making such loud noise. They had no shows lined up yet, but Ryuji didn’t see the harm in indulging his offer. Besides, he really liked watching Akira play more than anything. He _really_ liked it, but he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Besides, practicing was the only time he could get a clear look at him performing. Ryuji had to keep a clear head while playing the drums during shows. Any slip up could throw him - and the band - off track.

 

Akira had brought his sterling red electric guitar (“That’s not very ‘punk rock’ of you, Ryuji,” he’d always say as Ryuji snorted at it’s blaring bright shade.) and had begun tuning it. His slender hands fiddled with the tuning pegs as he searched for the right note.

 

Ryuji had formed this band on a whim. At the time, Shujin’s Battle of the Bands was coming up, and Ryuji had sought to prove himself in the competition as a drummer (Plus, there was some cash to be earned, but Ryuji swears wholeheartedly it was for the sake of music.) But with no band, it was hard to enter. He was desperate. One day, he’d seen Akira after school, clutching a hold of his guitar case. He’d recognized Akira - they had been in the same gym class. Ryuji hadn’t known the guy all too well, but it was worth giving a shot.

 

With a lot of begging and pleading, he had secured a lead guitarist and established a band. Eventually, they secured a vocalist - Ann, who happened to be one of Ryuji’s old friends. The three of them managed to win Battle of the Bands and went on to continue as a band, playing locally here and there.

 

Over time, Ryuji found comfort in the band. Not just the musical aspect, but the social aspect. Something about having Akira and Ann around felt like a warm embrace. He’d been an outcast for a good portion of his adolescence, and the other two knew the feeling. He hoped that the others felt the same way, and wanted desperately to spend more time together.

 

The two of them sat quietly, taking care of their own things. Ryuji twiddled with his drumsticks, trying to think of a way to break the silence between them. “Y’know...” he started.

 

“Hm?” Akira looked up from his project, big round eyes glazed at him. Ryuji tried to stop himself from gulping, the action leaving his mind blank.

 

Think, think. Ryuji hummed inquisitively for a short bit. “I’ve always uh...wanted to play guitar,” he blurted. Seeing Akira’s expression change, he added, “The way you play is pretty cool!”

 

Lame. Ryuji internally coiled from his awkward statement.

 

“Want me to teach you some chords?” He offered.

 

Ryuji straightened a bit, eyes turning wide. “Really? That’d be cool with you and everything? I never really played guitar before or anything-“

 

Akira cut him off as he removed the strap around his head and placed the guitar in Ryuji’s hands. He spent a moment trying to adjust it’s placement so Ryuji could hold it better.

 

As Akira handed him a pick, their fingers brushed ever so slightly. Ryuji’s stomach twisted in knots from the small contact.

 

Internally, Ryuji smacked himself. This was so stupid of him. He couldn’t bring himself to confront his crush on his bandmate. Akira was so easy to be around. Never once did he felt judged by his peer for anything he did. To Ryuji, Akira felt like a true leader. He was just keeping pace behind him, and followed his orders, but he also wanted to be something more to Akira at the same time. Plus, he couldn’t lie about the rush of feelings he felt when he stole glances in Akira’s direction. Seeing his curly strands of hair brush over his glasses as he concentrated on strumming out power chords wracked Ryuji’s brain. He’d harbored his feelings for him for so long, and dreaded yet anticipated the day where life would hopefully let the situation unfold itself.

 

Ryuji put the strap around his head and stood up. The head of the guitar drooped down by his knees. He instantly burst out laughing.

 

“Dude! How d’ya play like this? I gotta squat to reach the strings!” In between his laughing, he saw a hint of Akira’s smile.

 

Feigning annoyance, Akira replied, “Don’t judge what you don’t understand. If it bothers you that much, I’ll fix the strap for you.” Akira stood behind Ryuji, adjusting the strap on Ryuji’s shoulder. He could feel his slight breathing on his neck. Ryuji’s heart instantly began to race, and he made an effort not to show it.

 

“That any better?” Akira snapped Ryuji out of his daze.

 

“Oh. Uh. Yeah.” He clutched the guitar, hands ever so carefully resting on the neck and the body of the guitar. This was _Akira’s_ guitar. He’d suddenly realized that Akira trusted him enough to let him mess around with it. Ryuji would have to make a mental note to be extra careful as long as he held it. He looked at Akira. “So...what do I do now...?”

 

Akira paused for a minute, thinking. Ryuji noticed how collected Akira seemed, even in such sudden moments. It sharply contrasted Ryuji’s bumbling state in this moment.

 

Akira’s face lit up. “You can start off with strumming! Put your index finger here,” he pointed at one of the spaces on the neck. “That’s a fret. And strum this string while holding down there.” He then pointed to the body.

 

Ryuji strummed hesitantly, and gave Akira a pained smile after hearing the buzzing, grating sound that followed his strumming. “I dunno man, that sounds weird.”

 

“That’s okay. Maybe you’re not pressing down hard enough. Let me see.” Akira stepped behind Ryuji again. His hand cupped the one Ryuji was using to press down on the fretboard. He positioned himself and then turned his head to Ryuji’s. “Tell me if I start hurting you, okay?”

 

Ryuji’s heart was moments away from leaping out of his chest. For a moment, he imagined Akira’s chin resting onto the crook of his neck and could feel his face going cold. This was probably the closest the two had ever been in proximity, and Ryuji wanted to scream.

 

As Akira added pressure to Ryuji’s index finger, Ryuji could feel pine needles shoot along his blood stream. He felt Akira’s hair brush against him as the other boy nodded. Akira asked, “Could you strum again?”

 

Ryuji pushed the pick against the string, this time feeling more pleased with the sound.

 

“You’re getting it!” Ryuji noted a tinge of praise in Akira’s voice, and knew it was genuine. He felt his face get hot. “Wanna try on your own now?”

 

_No_ , Ryuji thought, _I want us to stay like this_. Instead, Ryuji blurted, “Yeah, yeah, I think I can do it! Trust me!”

 

For a while, the two of them just sat there, Akira teaching him how to strum and the moving onto some chords. Occasionally, he’d position himself behind Ryuji and guide his hands along the neck, both hands moving synchronically. Ryuji became accustomed to his presence behind him. Akira moved with such fragility and ease, his fingers almost intertwining with Ryuji’s and his free hand resting near his shoulder. Ryuji concentrated, hoping that his mind wouldn’t drift onto other things.

 

Time passed long enough to the point where it started to get dark. Ryuji felt a little ashamed that so much time was spent teaching him instead of practicing. They had both stepped outside Ryuji’s house, Ryuji wanting to see Akira off.

 

Twiddling his thumbs, Ryuji said, “Thanks for today, dude. I know you said we should practice, but I had fun learning with you.”

 

Akira grinned. “It’s no problem.” He shuffled with the looming guitar case on his back.” But, you owe me a lesson.”

 

Ryuji startled. A lesson? The shock on his face must’ve been clear, as Akira began pantomiming hitting a drum. “Y’know, a drum lesson? It’s only fair.”

 

Oh. Right. His hand went up to brush his fingers through his hair. “Of course. Don’t worry about it!” he said, laughing to hide his previous expressions His thumb pointed to his chest. “Nothing to fear! This guy’ll teach you only the best!”

 

Akira chuckled. Seeing Akira like that made Ryuji feel all warm. He felt special, knowing that such moments were the result of his (and only his) actions.

 

The two said their goodbyes, waving to each other as the distance between them grew. As he was sure Akira was gone, Ryuji sighed. The past few hours had been too much on his young heart. There was no time to dwell on it though. He smiled to himself as he thought about giving Akira a taste of his own medicine for his “lessons”.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> this is bad but ive had this idea for months and i needed to get it all out. thank you lets support punk band au phantom trio together.
> 
> so far my au is just akira (lead guitar), ryuji (drums), and ann (vocals), still working out the kinks.


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